West Bend — For the first time since it decided to change its name several years ago, the Museum of Wisconsin Art seems like an actual museum.

Although it has been researching and refining the story of art in our state for more than 20 years, the otherwise modest-sized, regional museum has not had the square footage or museum-quality space to showcase the breadth of its collection. | April 5, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(19)

Take it outside this weekend — there are lots of free outdoor movies showing in the Milwaukee area.

Paul's Alley Cinema

"From Russia With Love": See James Bond without the gadgets (well, fewer of them, anyway) in the second movie in the spy-action series, from 1963, with Robert Shaw as one of 007's toughest foes. 8:45 p.m. Friday, with a short subject before the main feature. Free. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Article

One of my favorite memories of growing up in Nice, France, is of living in a building that also housed a bakery. The smell of freshly baked bread and viennoiseries — croissants, chocolate croissants, pains aux raisins — would waft through the air, daring you to buy some and resist biting into them as soon as you left.

Even when we moved to a different street, three bakeries were within one or two blocks. I was spoiled for choice. After moving back to the United States, freshly made croissants were on my list of things I missed the most. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Article

The emotional range displayed by the Kenosha native alternates between sensitive or rage-filled in films that, except for "The Avengers," rarely cause a stir. And in my opinion, he has never given a better performance than one of his earliest, playing the emotionally inarticulate sibling in the wrenching family drama "You Can Count on Me." | July 10, 2014»Read Full Article(2)

Lakefront inaugurated the beer for the hometown date episode, when Waukesha native Nick Viall took bachelorette Andi Dorfman to the brewery before they went to the suburbs to meet his family. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Article

Last summer, the Milwaukee Art Museum's new curator of photography, Lisa Sutcliffe, thanked her new employer for trusting her with an "unwieldy and unpredictable project": an invitation to several elite photographers to come here, respond to the city in their own ways and make pictures over the course of nearly a year.

The result is the first major museum show for "Postcards From America," an ongoing photographic project exploring aspects of American life by leading photographers from Magnum Photos, a prestigious photography cooperative and agency. The exhibit has just opened. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Article(3)

In the course of two days, both Florida Georgia Line and Kip Moore released new videos with a touch of dirt within.

In the case of the hit-making bro-country duo Florida Georgia Line, the new song, “Dirt,” accompanies their unveiling of the first single from a yet-announced sophomore effort to follow their platinum-selling debut, “Here’s to the Good Times.” In a remarkable twist, the pair of Tyler Hubbard and Bryan Kelley also reveal a much less “bro” and much more “country” side on the steel guitar-infused rural ballad. The video takes the emotions even deeper by adding a narrative from country songwriter JD Souther to the mix. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

The reopening of the Avalon Theater, in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood, will likely take place a couple of months later than expected.

Owner Lee Barczak, who had planned for an opening by August, is now hoping to open the cinema in early October. Barczak said the delay was tied to the general difficulties of renovating an older building. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

Bastille Days kicks off at 11 a.m. in Cathedral Square Park. The four-day event is one of the largest French-themed festivals in the nation and includes live music, an international marketplace, wine tasting, a run/walk and parades. Also, don't miss your chance to see the Eiffel Tower — or a 43-foot replica, anyway.

Visit a new exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum. "Postcards from America: Milwaukee" features a wide variety of photography around the city taken in three different stages from August 2013 to April 2014. The exhibit opens at 10 a.m., but catch a special event with photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti and Curator of Photography Lisa Sutcliffeat 6 p.m. | July 10, 2014»Read Full Blog Post